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List of combine harvester manufacturers
(Manufactures and model list added, Incomplete) The combine harvester, or simply combine, also known as a thresher is a machine that combines the tasks of harvesting, threshing, and cleaning grain crops. The objective is the harvest of the crop; corn (maize), soybeans, flax (linseed), oats, wheat, or rye among others). The waste straw left behind on the field is the remaining dried stems and leaves of the crop with limited nutrients which is either chopped and spread on the field or baled for feed and bedding for livestock. History The first combine was invented by Hiran Moore in 1838 (sounds early ? ). It took many decades for the combine to become popular. Early combines often took more than 16 horses to drive them. Later combines were pulled by steam engines. George Stockton Berry joined the combine into a single machine using straw to heat the boiler. The header was over forty feet long, cutting over one hundred acres per day. Early combines, some of them quite large, were drawn by horse or mule teams and used a bull wheel to provide power. In 1902, a combine could harvest enough grain in one hour to make 10 loaves of bread(apparently). Tractor-drawn, PTO-powered combines were used for a time. These combines used a shaker to separate the grain from the chaff and straw-walkers (grates with small teeth on an eccentric shaft) to eject the straw while retaining the grain. Tractor drawn combines evolved to have separate gas or diesel engines to power the grain separation. Newer kinds of combines are self-propelled and use diesel engines for power. A significant advance in the design of combines was the rotary design. Straw and grain were separated by use of a powerful fan. "Axial-Flow" rotary combines were introduced by International Harvester "IH" in 1977. In about the 1980's on-board electronics were introduced to measure threshing efficiency. This new instrumentation allowed operators to get better grain yields by optimizing ground speed and other operating parameters. Combine Heads Combines are equipped with removable heads (called headers) that are designed for particular crops. The standard header, sometimes called a grain platform (or platform header), is equipped with a reciprocating knife cutter bar, and features a revolving reel with metal or plastic teeth to cause the cut crop to fall into the head. A cross auger then pulls the crop into the throat. The grain header is used for many crops including grains and legumes. Wheat headers are similar except that the reel is not equipped with teeth. Some wheat headers, called "draper" headers, use a fabric or rubber apron instead of a cross auger. Draper headers allow faster feeding than cross augers, leading to higher throughputs. In high yielding European crops, such headers have no advantage, as the limiting factor becomes grain separation. On many farms, platform headers are used to cut wheat, instead of separate wheat headers, so as to reduce overall costs. Draper headers are not very common in the UK, but a version is used for rape crops to direct cut standing Oil-seed rape crops. Dummy heads or pick-up headers feature spring-tined pickups, usually attached to a heavy rubber belt. They are used for crops that have already been cut and placed in windrows or swaths. This is particularly useful in northern climates such as western Canada where swathing kills weeds resulting in a faster dry down. Used in UK to harvest Oil-seed rape crops that have been Swathed (Pre cut) Massey Ferguson introduced the "PowerFlow" header in the 1980s, which had a row of rubber conveyor belts between the cutter bar and the cross feed auger. The crop laying down after cutting and been feed more evenly to the feed auger. They enabled higher outpus in hte dense UK crops and worked well in the direct cutting of rape (usually with a side Knife to stop tangling round the reel drive). While a grain platform can be used for corn (Maize), a specialized corn head is ordinarily used instead. The corn head is equipped with snap rolls that strip the stalk and leaf away from the ear, so that only the ear (and husk) enter the throat. This improves efficiency dramatically since so much less material must go through the cylinder. The corn head can be recognized by the presence of points between each row. Not very common in the UK as Maize is not a major crop. Self propelled Gleaner combines could be fitted with special tracks instead of tires or tires with tread measuring almost 10in wide to assist in harvesting rice. Some combines, particularly pull type, have tires with a diamond tread which prevents sinking in mud.These tracks can fit other combines by having adapter plates made, they will fit a JD6620 2WD only having to remove one shield. Conventional combine The cut crop is carried up the feeder throat by a chain and flight elevator, then fed into the threshing mechanism of the combine, consisting of a rotating threshing drum, to which grooved steel bars are bolted. These bars thresh or separate the grains and chaff from the straw through the action of the drum against the concave, a shaped "half drum", also fitted with steel bars and a meshed grill, through which grain, chaff and smaller debris may fall, whereas the straw, being too long, is carried through onto the straw walkers. The drum speed is variably adjustable, whilst the distance between the drum and concave is finely adjustable fore, aft and together, to achieve optimum separation and output. Manually engaged disawning plates are usually fitted to the concave. These provide extra friction to remove the awns from barley crops. Hillside levelling An interesting technology is in use in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest of the United States in which the combine is retrofitted with a hydraulic hillside levelling system. This allows the combine to harvest the incredibly steep but fertile soil in the region. Hillsides can be as steep as a 50% slope. Gleaner, IH and Case IH, John Deere, and others all have made combines with this hillside levelling system, and local machine shops have fabricated them as an aftermarket add-on. Linked pictures below show the technology. The first levelling technology was developed by Holt Co., a California firm, in 1891.Ag Power Mag, Sept 2001 Modern levelling came into being with the invention and patent of a level sensitive mercury switch system invented by Raymond Hanson in 1946.Rahco.com, 2005 Raymond's son, Raymond, Jr., produced levelling systems exclusively for John Deere combines until 1995 as R. A. Hanson Company, Inc. In 1995, his son, Richard, purchased the company from his father and renamed it RAHCO International, Inc. In April, 2007, the company was renamed The Factory Company International, Inc.TheFactoryCompany.com, 2007 Production continues to this day. Hillside levelling has several advantages. Primary among them is an increased threshing efficiency on hillsides. Without levelling, grain and chaff slide to one side of separator and come through the machine in a large ball rather than being separated, dumping large amounts of grain on the ground. By keeping the machinery level, the straw-walker is able to operate more efficiently, making for more efficient threshing. IH produced the 453 combine which levelled both side-to-side and front-to-back, enabling efficient threshing whether on a hillside or climbing a hill head on. Secondarily, levelling changes a combine's centre of gravity relative to the hill and allows the combine to harvest along the contour of a hill without tipping, a very real danger on the steeper slopes of the region; it is not uncommon for combines to roll on extremely steep hills. Currently hillside levelling is on the decline with the advent of huge modern machines which are more stable due to their width. These modern combines use the rotary grain separator which makes levelling less critical. Most combines on the Palouse have dual drive wheels on each side to stabilize them. Hillide levelling system in Europe was developed by Italian combines' manufacturer Laverda that is still a leader in producing these systems. Maintaining threshing speed Another technology that is sometimes used on combines is a continuously variable transmission. This allows the ground speed of the machine to be varied while maintaining a constant engine and threshing speed. It is desirable to keep the threshing speed since the machine will typically have been adjusted to operate best at a certain speed. Self-propelled combines started with standard manual transmissions that provided one speed based on input rpm. Deficiencies were noted and in the early 1950s combines were equipped with what John Deere called the "Variable Speed Drive". This was simply a variable width sheave controlled by spring and hydraulic pressures. This sheave was attached to the input shaft of the transmission. A standard 4 speed manual transmission was still used in this drive system. The operator would select a gear, typically 3rd. An extra control was provided to the operator to allow him to speed up and slow down the machine within the limits provided by the variable speed drive system. By decreasing the width of the sheave on the input shaft of the transmission, the belt would ride higher in the groove. This slowed the rotating speed on the input shaft of the transmission, thus slowing the ground speed for that gear. A clutch was still provided to allow the operator to stop the machine and change transmission gears. Later, as hydraulic technology improved, hydrostatic transmissions were introduced by Versatile Mfg for use on swathers but later this technology was applied to combines as well. This drive retained the 4 speed manual transmission as before, but this time used a system of hydraulic pumps and motors to drive the input shaft of the transmission. This system is called a Hydrostatic drive system. The engine turns the hydraulic pump capable of high flow rates at up to 4000 psi. This pressure is then directed to the hydraulic motor that is connected to the input shaft of the transmission. The operator is provided with a lever in the cab that allows for the control of the hydraulic motors ability to use the energy provided by the pump. By adjusting the swash plate in the motor, the stroke of its pistons are changed. If the swash plate is set to neutral, the pistons do not move in their bores and no rotation is allowed, thus the machine does not move. By moving the lever, the swash plate moves its attached pistons forward, thus allowing them to move within the bore and causing the motor to turn. This provides an infinitely variable speed control from 0 ground speed to what ever the maximum speed is allowed by the gear selection of the transmission. The standard clutch was removed from this drive system as it was no longer needed. Most if not all modern combines are equipped with hydrostatic drives. These are larger versions of the same system used in consumer and commercial lawn mowers that most are familiar with today. In fact, it was the downsizing of the combine drive system that placed these drive systems into mowers and other machines. The threshing process Despite great advances mechanically and in computer control, the basic operation of the combine harvester has remained unchanged almost since it was invented. First of all the header, described above, cuts the crop and feeds it into the threshing cylinder. This consists of a series of horizontal''rasp bars'' fixed across the path of the crop and in the shape of a quarter cylinder, guiding the crop upwards through a 90 degree turn. Moving rasp bars or rub bars pull the crop through concaved grates that separate the grain and chaff from the straw. The grain heads fall through the fixed concaves onto the sieves. The straw exits the top of the concave onto the straw walkers. Since the IH 1440 and 1460 Axial-Flow Combines came out in 1977, combines have rotors in place of conventional cylinders. A rotor is a long, longitudinal mounted rotating cylinder with plates similar to rub bars. There are usually two sieves, one above the other. Each is a flat metal plate with holes set according to the size of the grain mounted at an angle which shakes. The holes in the top sieve are set larger than the holes in the bottom sieve. While straw is carried to the rear, crop and weed seeds, as well as chaff, fall onto the second sieves, where chaff and crop fall though and are blown out by a fan. The crop is carried to the elevator which carries it into the hopper. Setting the concave clearance, fan speed, and sieve size is critical to ensure that the crop is threshed properly, the grain is clean of debris, and that all of the grain entering the machine reaches the grain tank. ( Observe, for example, that when travelling uphill the fan speed must be reduced to account for the shallower gradient of the sieves.) Heavy material, e.g., unthreshed heads, fall off the front of the sieves and are returned to the concave for re-threshing. The straw walkers are located above the sieves, and also have holes in them. Any grain remaining attached to the straw is shaken off and falls onto the top sieve. When the straw reaches the end of the walkers it falls out the rear of the combine. It can then be baled for cattle bedding or spread by two rotating straw spreaders with rubber arms. Most modern combines are equipped with a straw spreader. Rotary vs. Conventional Design For a considerable time, combine harvesters used the conventional design, which used a rotating cylinder at the front-end which knocked the seeds out of the heads, and then used the rest of the machine to separate the straw from the chaff, and the chaff from the grain. In the decades before the widespread adoption of the rotary combine in the late seventies, several inventors had pioneered designs which relied more on centrifugal force for grain separation and less on gravity alone. By the early eighties, most major manufacturers had settled on a "walkerless" design with much larger threshing cylinders to do most of the work. Advantages were faster grain harvesting and gentler treatment of fragile seeds, which were often cracked by the faster rotational speeds of conventional combine threshing cylinders. It was the disadvantages of the rotary combine (increased power requirements and over-pulverization of the straw by-product) which prompted a resurgence of conventional combines in the late nineties. Perhaps overlooked but nonetheless true, when the large engines that powered the rotary machines were employed in conventional machines, the two types of machines delivered similar production capacities. Also, research was beginning to show that incorporating above-ground crop residue (straw) into the soil is less useful for rebuilding soil fertility than previously believed. This meant that working pulverized straw into the soil became more of a hindrance than a benefit. An increase in corn fed beef production also created a higher demand for straw as fodder. Conventional combines, which use straw walkers, preserve the quality of straw and allow it to be baled and removed from the field. Combine Manufacturers Early Makes *Aktiv - Imported to UK by Western Machinery Ltd of Devon * Albion Machinery - later David Brown *Allis-Chalmers **Allis-Chalmers Gleaner GA **Allis-Chalmers Gleaner Super A Allis bought Gleaner Baldwin in 1955 **Allis-Chalmers All Crop 60 - 1951 UK built at AC Essendine factory ** Allis-Chalmers 5000 - UK Built with 10, 12, 0r 14 ft cutters *Bamford (UK Distributor for BM Volvo) & Laverda **Bamfords BM S 830 **Bamfords BM S 900 **Bamfords Laverda M 84 **Bamfords Laverda M 150 *Clayson became New Holland **Clayson M103 **Clayson 8050 **Clayson 8070 *Claeys - purchased by New Holland *Class , fitted with tracks ]] **Claas Self propelled **Claas Columbus **Claas Cosmos - updated Claas Columbus **Claas SF - 1953 (originaly named Hercules) SF=Self Propelled in German **Claas SF 55 - 1955 12 ft cut **Claas Europa - 1958 7 ft cut for small farms **Claas Matador - 1961 with 10, 12 0r 14 ft cutter and a 3F - 1R gearbox with hydraulic variable speed transmission. (replaced SF) **Claas Senator **Claas Super - 1st imported into UK in 1947 by J Mann & Son of Suffolk **Claas Super Junior - 1953 with 5-6 cut **Claas Super 500 - 1955 **Class Dominator 85 **Claas Lexion 580 *Cockshutt *Co-op Implements (Canada) *Dania- Danish Manufacturer imported to UK by Western Machinery Ltd of Devon *Deutz-Fahr **Deutz-Fahr 1202 *Dronningburg - purchased by Massey Ferguson (AGCO) *Ford - many built by Claas *International Harvester later became Case IH **IH Axial Flow combines ***IH 1440 ***IH 1460 **McCormick-Deering *John Deere in 2009]] **John Deere Lanz 250 **John Deere 360 - 1967 7ft 6 inch trailed combine **John Deere 430 - 1964 European market design with 8 ft 6 cut **John Deere 530 ** John Deere 630 ** John Deere 690I Hillmaster - 2008 ** John Deere 730 16 ft cut ** John Deere 970 12 to 18 ft Quick attach table ** John Deere 965H - 1975 First European Hill side combine **John Deere 1075 **John Deere 1174 SH *Jones **Jones Pilot **Jones Cruiser - 1958 with 7-8 cut *Laverda - distributed in UK by Bamfords for a period *Lely *Magnano (Argentina) *Mainero (Argentina) *Marshalls ** Marshalls Silver Queen - 1947 self propelled ** Grain Marshall 626 - 1951 Trailed combine 6 ft cut T&M, vol 15/3 page 48 *Massey-Harris **M-H No. 20 - 1938 self propellded **M-H No. 21 - 1940 replaced No. 20 (American built and shipped in KD form during the war) 1500 + by 1946 as part of agricultural mechanisation during the war years.Vintage Tractor Magazine No. 104 by Brian Bell **M-H No. 222 - 1947 self-propelled with 8 ft cut **M-H 726 - 1948 replaced no. 21 **M-H 750 - 1953 **M-H 780 - 1955 12 ft cut with choice of engine and cutter, and optional straw press **M-H 735 - 1956 6 ft cut *Massey Ferguson **Massey-Ferguson 8 (Plot combine) **MF 30 **MF 31-6 **MF 32 **MF 34 **MF 36 **MF 40 **Massey Ferguson 206 **Massey Ferguson 400 **Massey Ferguson 410 **Massey Ferguson 487 **Massey-Ferguson 500 **Massey Ferguson 506 **Massey Ferguson 510 **Massey Ferguson 515 (Double separator) **Massey-Ferguson 520 **Massey-Ferguson 525 **Massey-Ferguson 620 **Massey-Ferguson 625 **Massey Ferguson 735 **Massey-Ferguson 750 **Massey-Ferguson 760 **Massey Ferguson 780 **Massey Ferguson 788 **Massey Ferguson 800 **Massey Ferguson 810 **Massey Ferguson 845 **Massey-Ferguson 860 **Massey-Ferguson 892 (rice variant available) in 2009]] **MF 7260AL-4 **MF 8450 (Made by Claas) **MF 8460 (Made by Claas) **MF 8560 **MF 8570 (Rotary) **MF 8590 *McCormick International (International Harvester) ** McCormick International B-64 - 1953 6ft cut trailed combine. Armstrong Siddeley engine.T&M Vol.9/2 page p22 ** McCormick International 8-51 - 1970s ** McCormick International F8-63 - 196 ? French built model *Minneapolis-Moline *New Holland took over Clayson in the 1970s ** New Holland Clayson 122 ** New Holland Clayson 8070 *Oliver *Prats (Argentina) *Ransomes - initialy imported Bolinder-Munktell trailed combines to UK in 1953 ** Ransomes MST 42 1954-61 built under license from BM ** Ransomes 902 - 1958 self propelled combine 10 or 12 ft cut (UK) and 14 or 16 ft (export), 62 hp Ford Thames Trader engine ** Ransomes Cavalier ** Ransomes Crusader *Rotania (Argentina) *Rysca (Argentina) *Santa Matilde (Brazil) *Santana (Spain) - built by Clayson *Sapucay (Argentina) *Senor (Argentina) *Shelbourne Reynolds *Someca - purchased by Fiat and merged into Laverda *Thærmeniu (Thermaenius)(Sweden) - purchased by Volvo *Volvo BM **Volvo BM Aktiv **Volvo Thærmeniu *Western combines - purchased by AGCO *White A Few Early combines have been preserved, and a few small Hobby farmers use examples of early combines to harvest small acreages each year. There are a few events were combines are demonstrated, but the size of later ones makes moving them and even storage a problem, As machines like the MF 760 and MF 860 are 14' (4.2m) wide or more dependant on wheel configuration, and require a escort to move on some roads. Modern Makes (1980 > Today) (some models in 1st section may belong here, as dates unknown) *Agco-Allis (Argentina) *Agrinar *Agromash - joint with Same Deutz-Fahr in Russia *Ajaco (India) *Araus (Argentina) *Arbos (Italy) *Arcus - purchased by Case IH *Bizon (Poland) - purchased by New Holland **Bizon Sampo - joint with Sampo Rosenlew *Case IH - (CNH Global) *Caterpillar (later Caterpillar Lexion) - originally a joint venture between Caterpillar and Claas in U.S. *Challenger (AGCO) *Claas see also Lexion, (formerly Caterpillar Lexion), (for USA Manufacturing and Distribution) **Claas Lexion 410 **Claas Lexion 460 **Claas Lexion 480 **Claas Classic 98 **Claas Dominator 88 **Claas Mega 218 *DaeDong *Daniele (Argentina) *Dasmesh (India) *Deutz-Allis Gleaner - see Gleaner *Deutz-Araus (Argentina) *Deutz-Fahr *Don Roque (Argentina) *Ðuro Ðakovic (Croatia) - purchased by Deutz-Fahr (SDF) *Fendt (AGCO) *Gleaner *Haishan (China) *Hemas (Germany) *HIND (India) *ICM (Iran Combine Mfg) - John Deere technology *IDEAL (Brazil) - purchased by AGCO *International Harvester **IH 1660 *JDL (China) (John Deere Jialian Harvester Co., joint with John Deere, sold as AgForce in some countries) *Jhandeana (India) *Jiangsu TYM (China) *John Deere **JD 975 **JD 9410 *John Deere/ATL (Pakistan) *Jufeng (China) *Kartar (India) *Kaset Pattana (Thailand) *Kherson (Ukraine) *KS (India) *Kubota *Kukje **Kukje Shakti (India) *Laverda (ARGO) *Lexion (Claas) *LS (South Korea) *M.S. (India) *Malyshev (Ukraine) *Marani **Marani Agrinar *Massey Combines - formed when Massey Ferguson spun off combine division. Later repurchased company *Massey Ferguson / Dronningborg *Maxion (Brazil) - purchased by AGCO *McCormick (ARGO) (ARGO)(built by Laverda and imported to UK for a short time) ** McCormick 1950LX ** McCormick 2050LX ** McCormick 2350LX ** McCormick 2560LX ** McCormick 2760LS ** McCormick 2760LX *Metalfor *Mitsubishi *MYO-O (Romania) *New Holland **TX 63 **TX 34 *Panesar (India) *PMA (Algeria)-Claas under license *Preet (India) *Pronar - sell rebadged RostSelMash combines *RostSelMash (Russia) *Sampo Rosenlew **Sampo Rostov (Russia) - joint venture between Sampo Rosenlew and RostSelMash *Sanlian (China) *SEMA (Romania) (1969-1993) *Sifang (India) *SLC John Deere - former Brazilian joint venture *Standard (India) *Swaraj (India) *Terrion (Russia) - same as Sampo Rostev **Terrion Sampo - same as Sampo Rostev *Tong Yang (South Korea) *Uzel - (built by Sampo Rosenlew) *Valtra - (built in Brazilian Massey Ferguson factory) *Vassalli (Argentina) *Yanmar Category:Agricultural machinery Category:Combine harvesters Literature * Graeme R. Quick, Wesley F. Buchele: The Grain Harvesters. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph/Michigan 1978, ISBN 0-916150-13-5 See also *Museum of Scottish Country Life Largest collection of Combine Harvesters in Europe. References * Wikipedia for base article to build on * snippets of info from classic machinery magazines * An Illustrated History of Combine Harvesters by Jim Wilkie * The Massey Legacy by John Farnworth * Vintage Tractor Magazine, various articles by Brian Bell External links * HSE - Combine Safe Operation * Pictures of combines with corn and wheat heads * History of Sunshine Harvesters - Museum Victoria, Australia * Pictures of Gleaner levelling combines * The Combine Talk Forums - A Website with more information and pictures Category:Agricultural machinery Category:Glossary Category:Self-propelled machinery Category:Combine Harvesters